QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

In the course of the eight days prayer, the following discussions happened between me and a member of the Group. With the permission from the person concerned, I share the discourse with you as follows:

1. Can a demon inhabit a child of God who has not backslidden and who continually submit to the Lordship of Jesus?

2. If yes sir, what happens to the Holy Spirit in the believer at that time?

3. Also sir, can we say that rising and falling in spiritual life (not backsliding) is a signal to demonic activities in one’s life?

4. Please sir, how can one deal with bitterness against one’s spouse especially when things of God or church is involved?

5. Is it possible for one to expect too much from marriage or have unnecessary expectations from one’s spouse?

Thanks a lot and God bless you Sir

Admin Response:

Can a demon inhabit a child of God who has not backslidden and who continually submit to the Lordship of Jesus?

The simple answer is Yes. As ludicrous as that may sound, it is the simple truth. Now, let me explain as briefly as possible how demon possession works. It is in two ways. First, demons can inhabit a person through sin. This is one major area devil possessed unbelievers and Christians that play with sins. The second is given the enemy a ‘place’ in our lives, this is where believers often fall victims of demon possessions and they may not even know it because the devil inside them can still allow them to be doing some good works, as though nothing is wrong with them. I will try to explain both, but I will lay more emphasis on the second one, for that is the one that affect us the most.

Now, we should know that the Spirit of Christ that we received when we became a believer only dwell and connect with our spirits. The Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell in our body (flesh) but relate directly with our spirit who lives in our body. As a believer in Christ, His Holy Spirit through our spirit will ask for the control of our body and not just our spirit now that we are in Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul said we should present our bodies (by our own will) to God as living sacrifice (Roman 12:1).

Before, we came to Jesus Christ, our spirit was dead (that is silence by the works of our flesh) but at salvation our spirit came alive by the power of the Holy Spirit, now the Spirit wants to produce His own fruit in us, so being possessed in our spirit by the Holy Ghost, we no longer, expectedly, have to be control by our flesh and do the works of the flesh but rather, we must begin to do the works of the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit. That’s, being possessed by the Holy Spirit. It is your spirit that is possessed, not your body, and God expect that we put our body under the influence and control of His Holy Spirit in us. I will come back to this shortly.

Now demon possession on the other hand, is the same for believers and unbelievers alike, though the means of exposure differs, as explained earlier. For a sinner, through habitual sins but for a believer, through giving a place (a loophole, a foothold, an entering point) to the devil (Ephesian 4:27). The devil always possesses the body of his victim and from there produces the works of the flesh and by so doing gradually silence his spirit.

The Spirit of God will possess the spirit of man, because He want man to bring his body under his own control without being forced and without losing the control of his senses and the power over his own body. But demons will target the body and possessed it because they want to hijack the use of the body and the senses of whoever’s body they entered. Demons loves to occupy human’s body and use it against their will. The Spirit of God will possess the spirit of man, and will want man by his own will yield (submit) his body to God. God will not turn us to robots, He gave us will and the ability to make choices, He won’t imposed Himself on our will. It must be us who must willingly yield ourselves to Him and with His help to bring forth fruit of His Spirit but we must first be willing and be ready to submit our bodies to the control of His Spirit within us.

But the devil on the other hand, want to possessed the body, take over its functions and control it to do his own works and in the process he will deny the victim the rational use of his senses. That is why demon possessed people act like robots, the spirit of devils that occupied their bodies make them do things they won’t do ordinarily if they have the control of their own senses. All in a bid to destroy the body and corrupt his spirit. That is why demon possessions always take over the bodies of its hosts and used them, sometimes with subtlety, and a times very violently. They often lost their ability to use their senses and the power to control themselves. Once someone is under the influence of devils, the eyes will change, the face will change and the body will do unexpected things. That is the major difference between Holy Spirit possession and devil possessions. God will not take over the functions of your body or take over the functions of your senses, only to give them back when he is through with you. No and No. Only the devil does that.

This is the reason the Scripture says, the spirits of the prophets are subject (can be control or stop) by the prophets (1 Cor. 14:32). Any spiritual possession that makes you to lose your senses and the ability to control the use of your own body and your senses and your will is not of God. It is the devil in action, even if it makes you speak uncontrollably in tongues. Any spirit that throw someone around and even make the person harm his/herself if not helped, without knowing or feeling the pains until after he is through with that person is of the devil. In all Holy Spirit possessions in the scriptures, those involved never lose their ability to control their bodies, communicate effectively with their senses and interact rationally with those around them. That was why Peter was able to make responses to accusations of people who came around, thinking they were filled with wine at the Upper Room. In all Bible examples, especially in the New Testament where people were people do violent things, or got knocked down violently or lose the temporal control of their bodies were all in relation with demonic possessions.

How do these things work?  The battle field is in our mind. All thoughts from God and devil (or you might call it battle between God and devil for the soul of man) takes place in our mind through our thought.

Most thoughts that we often assumed are our own or a times from God, actually are suggestions of the devil into our mind. All sins start with a thought, the same is all suggestions to give a place to the devil. It always start with a thought. Take for example, lies or stealing, or anger, just any sin, it must start with a seed of thought in the mind, once allowed to take root, it will germinate and bring forth fruit. The best way to guide against it is to reject the thought from the very second it enters the heart. There is no sin man commits that does not start with a thought in the heart. The devil suggests it like a thought, you agree to it, and you lend the use of your hand, or legs, or mouth or any other body part to be used to execute that thought, then it became a sin.

Though it wasn’t your initial idea, but you thought it was, so you gave your body to the enemy for his use, many times without even knowing it. That is demonic possession. The fact that one was not forced or coarse in any way, but willingly agreed with the enemy without thinking through with that suggestion as a free will agent, makes one a co-participant with the devil in that act and that is a sin, to which the person involved must take responsibility. Every sinful act is a symptom of some level of demonic activities. Mind you to be possessed by demons are in different levels, but none is good. The end is always to cause sorrow and pains, even when it starts with some juicy packages. Demons have no bodies of their own, they need human body to express themselves and yielding to them is to join force with them against God and for that man, though deceived, became an active transgressor against God’s command.

And for a believer, demon possession starts (like a thought) and giving a place in one’s life (agree with the thought) for the enemy to take hold on and use one’s body (to carry out the thought) though he may have God’s Spirit in him, it is a matter of time, the flesh under the control of the devil will take over and the Spirit of God will depart. That was the state David found himself when he allowed the evil thought about Uriah’s wife to hold root in his heart. It cost him the Spirit of God and in repentance he ask Him to return (Psalms 51:9-11). The place given to the enemy may be as small as a little anger taken too far, claiming to be on ones right unnecessarily, a little bitterness in the heart, pride in the heart, rebellion etc. At the start, the Spirit of God will gently suggest to you not to give place to the devil whose suggestions were the oil that kept the anger burning, suggesting why you should not play the fool etc., though he won’t force Himself on your will but on the other hand, and almost at the same time, the devil will make all these ideas of his to run through your mind like a rushing wind, it will be so real, like say something is forcing that idea on you.

Any idea that is demanding immediate action, that is not giving you enough opportunity to think and relax over it, is always from the devil. That is why any thought that you carry out in a hurry will, most times, end up in nothing meaningful and sometimes in regret. So a believer can yield his/herself to the devil by obeying the thoughts that will give the devil a place in his/her life. God won’t force you to obey but the devil will, by deceptively placing forceful suggestions in one’s mind as though the emanated from one’s own heart and whoever, God or devil, you yield your body to obey, the servant of the same you are. If to God through His Spirit, it is life, or to the devil, which is death. That is why everyone will bear responsibility for his/her own sins.

Nothing is allowed, by spiritual law, to force anything on man, not even God without his consent. But the devil always get man consent by deceit, through suggestions into his mind, and once he allow a place in his life, he is already a victim of demon possession. We get possessed by demons when we yield to their suggestions and act them out. I hope this answers the first question.

What happens to the Holy Spirit in the believer at that time (of evil possession)?

When a believer gives place to the devil, either in his private life or in his/her marriage or family life, he silence the Holy Spirit by choosing the devil over Him. However, the Spirit of Grace will continue to call him to repentance but won’t struggle with him (He is a gentle Spirit, and won’t strife with man – Gen. 6:3) and if these continue for a long time and the believer allow the enemy to take over his body and yield the same to work the works of the flesh, in no time, the Spirit of God will gradually withdraw from such a person. This is a potentially dangerous situation, as the spirit of the devil in that person can continue to fake the working of the Holy Spirit in him and he will be thinking God is still working in him.

For example, a believer may be taken over by unforgiving spirit, same for any type of sin, and gradually degenerate to bitterness and depressions, which are sometimes important signs of demon possessions. But despite this, things might still be working well, he will still speak well like a believer, except on occasions when the evil spirit lay hold on him. He can still be doing spiritual services well if he/she is a worker in church and still be dressing fine as a believer, partly because the Spirit of God is patiently enduring and hoping he/she will change and stop giving room for the enemy or partly because the Spirit of God has gone out of him, but the spirit of the devil is camouflaging like the Spirit of God to keep deceiving him and gaining more ground in him. 

After several warning and calling to take heed, if the believer refuses, the Spirit of God will leave and the devil will take full possession of him, to give room for complete manifestation of the works of the flesh. The bad part is, the devil can deceive this fellow for many years, helping him to do some nice Christian things, yet he will not know that God has departed long time ago, while in some other cases, all these may happen within a short time. Whichever the case, the Spirit of God will depart by and large once the believer start giving grounds to the devil.

Also sir, can we say that rising and falling in spiritual life (not ‘total’ backsliding) is a signal to demonic activities in one’s life?

Just as explained above, all sins, which are the seeds of the rising and falling always start with a thought. All suggestions to do sin, no matter how little, starts with a thought. If you can’t control your thought, you can’t control your body. Self-control is thought control. Once a thought to do something wrong enters the heart, reject it immediately, otherwise, if allowed to settled, entertained, it will take root. Later, it will germinate and bring results. For example, extra marital relationship always start with an attraction to an opposite sex one is not legally married to, as thoughts or as enjoyable sensual imaginations, if allowed, it is a matter of time, one will find himself lying naked with the devil. These things can take years, but as long as the thought is kept active in the mind, it will happen.

The same is true for all sins and giving the devil a place in one’s life or marriage. All evil suggestions (though they don’t always appear evil at the onset) and or evil imaginations are to be rejected at once, divorce, separations, lies, reasons never to forgive etc. are all the fruits of thoughts that were not “cast down” as at when due (2 Cor. 10:5). Sometimes, the devil always start with a good thoughts so as to gain the trust of the victim before injecting the bad ones. Many claims of God speaking into my spirit (or many dreams or spiritual impartations that mostly attributed to God) are actually Satan speaking into the mind, a believer must learn to know the deference by the use of his senses (Heb. 5:14). Even when you have a good thought in your mind, or some so called good feelings, dreams or visions, be sure it is you or God that is talking and not the devil camouflaging as the Spirit of light.

One major difference between the two is that any thought that is forceful, always accompanied with captivating sense of fear that won’t let go and demanding immediate action is always from the devil. Same is true of dreams, visions, spiritual sensations, revelation etc. Any spiritual feelings, thoughts, dreams, imaginations etc., that try to replaces the use of the senses with fear, so the victim won’t be able to think through his actions are always from the devil. God can make you see, feel or hear things that can make you afraid but it will be assuring and comforting at the same time. The difference are very clear to believers who “by reason of use have their senses exercise to discern both good and evil” (Heb.5:14). That is why the thought to call or chat in a sinful way with another person is always forceful and controlling. Once it is allowed, it takes over your being and won’t let go until you make that call or do the chat or pay the visit. Whichever the case, regret is always the final result. It is like that for all demonic suggestions, either good or bad. All must be rejected. Giving room for devil suggestions in our mind, is always the beginning of demonic possession for a child of God. Give no place for the devil (Eph.4:27).

Please sir, how can one deal with bitterness against one’s spouse especially when things of God or church is involved?

Bitterness in any form is of the devil. The devil is smart, he can plant bitterness in the heart to look like one is concern or zealous for God or having the spiritual wellbeing of the other person at heart. For example, a man can develop bitterness against the wife for not going to church or for being in the habit of getting late to church, or the woman to the husband likewise. Bitterness can come for any reason, even because of food, money, sex etc. Whatever the reason, it is of the devil. They must be rejected promptly and always. That’s how to deal with it. Reject the thought as often as the devil try planting it in your heart. This takes a lot of persistence and discipline. No reason under the heaven is sufficient ground for bitterness. It is a ground for demon possession that must be resisted by all means.

This will also require some practical steps as follow up. Whenever that thought to hate or have bitter feeling towards your spouse come, don’t just reject it alone, deliberately allow some act of kindness to follow. Show love by doing some kind things to the person, especially things that are opposite that feelings of hatred or bitterness. When this is done over and over again, with prayers and consistent dependent on God, the devil will leave you alone since he has no place in you to do his evil work. Though, he will come again, give him the same treatment as many time over again. That is the way to lasting victory.

Is it possible for one to expect too much from marriage or have unnecessary expectations from one’s spouse?

Yes. This is the reason for troubles in many marriages. Many people got disappointed in their spouses right from the first few days, or weeks or months after the wedding. They may be staying together for many years, they have mostly stayed unhappy because of many unmet expectations. Never expect too much from anybody. Humans will always disappoint or feel disappointed, not because they wanted to, but because the devil hates families, and will always find ways to make one partner disappoint the other or by simply injecting the feeling of being disappointed in the mind of one against the other even when there is no serious reason for such.

Many difficult to explain irrational behaviour in marriage are fruits of satanic suggestions that have been allowed to take root in the heart. We all fight this battle on daily basis. The depth of individual sensitivity to his or her own thoughts goes a long way to having regular victory. The more you are able to know the deference between good and evil thoughts in your mind, the more you are able to make better choices (please put in mind that not all evil thoughts appear bad at the beginning). All thoughts are mere suggestions, they are counted as righteousness or sin, only after they have been allowed to take root in the heart and form the basis for or against the actions of the individual concerned. It is in the power of the will to choose the line of thoughts to obey. The more we obey and carry out suggestions from the Holy Spirit, the more He helps our bodies to submit to His will through His strength in our spirits.

Soon, after many obedience, our will and God’s will are going to be the same thing since we have learnt to reject the will of the enemy. The will of the devil is in the suggestions he made into our minds. Carrying out ideas that come from the devil is to do his will and doing devil’s will is same with demon possession. It is good to expect good things from our spouses, that is good and perfect but when they disappoint, we should also know, there may be some controlling power behind the scene. Many things people do, though they may think they are in control of themselves, but on many occasions, they are just under the influence of the devil. If we know this, we will understand more with people, our spouses in particular. No man or woman in his/her right senses will want to do things that will jeopardize the happiness of his/her marriage but people do things that they thought are their own idea and in the process damage good relationship and leave partners disappointed, all because they gave the devil a chance in their heart.

That they yielded to the suggestions of the devil, like Eve, make them guilty before God, but behind the scene, is a master deceiver, who got their consent to do evil by deceit. The capacity to do God’s will is in every one of us, no husband is totally lost and no wife is irredeemable. If some of them are opportune to hear what we hear, or read the posts we read, they would have repented long ago, and give no place for the devil but they don’t want to hear, or read these things because the devil has blindfolded the hearts of many. Here is where our prayers are needed both for ourselves and for our partners. The devil can keep making a partner do disappointing things so the believing partner can be frustrated and refuse to pray for him/her again, and by so doing, the devil gain more grounds in their lives.

Sometimes, the devil can use our partners to get at us. He keep making them do bad things, so as to keep us unhappy. That is the more reason we should pray for the erring partner, than joining the devil to nail him/her to condemnation the more. It is easier to complain and to condemn the actions of others than to pray for them. We must learn to see beyond what the person is doing and start addressing the spirit behind the action. That someone is a believer, or even a pastor or is educated does not mean he cannot be influence by devils if given the chance. Always believe God for the best from your spouse but for someone who is under the control of the flesh, to disappoint or to feel disappointed, is normal and expected. A believing spouse, should  always pray for grace so that he/she continue to yield to suggestions and ideas from the Holy Ghost, because just a little yielding to the devil can do so much harm if left undiscovered on time.

Further Questions:

6. Please sir what is the way out for one who is really taken over by spirit of unforgiveness and bitterness that manifest in uncontrolled thoughts even though forgiveness has sincerely taken place and love is been shown to the other party?

7. Please sir, how will I know if the devil is gaining ground in my life and the Holy Spirit is withdrawn?

8. When we repent and submit to God’s leadership again will demons automatically leave us?

I’m very grateful for the time and efforts put in explaining this, God will continually strengthen you Sir

Admin Response:

Please sir what is the way out for one who is really taken over by spirit of unforgiveness and bitterness that manifest in uncontrolled thoughts even though forgiveness has sincerely taken place and love is been shown to the other party?

If forgiveness has truly taken place and love is being shown to the other person, simply ignore all suggestions of the devil to the contrary. The enemy sometimes put much pressure on us so we can abandon prayers and all efforts at eliminating his activities in our homes. The more you pray, the more pressure he push on you but never stop, keep on rebuking him using applicable scriptures and eliminating those loopholes, soon he will leave you alone. Until then, don’t give in to him. When those thoughts come holding you down, rebuke them sternly in Jesus Name. Claim the victory on Calvary on them and tell the enemy your heart is renew and therefore you can no longer be control by unforgiveness and bitterness. The devil hates being challenged, he will quit when confronted in Jesus Name and with the Scripture.

The devil sometimes use our thoughts to play trick on us, once you have prayed and forgives your partner in Jesus Name, you are free. If the devil should tell you otherwise rebuke him as many times as he keeps coming.   Those thoughts that try to overtake you ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, and don’t treat them as yours. It is the devil suggesting those things to your mind, so he can reverse your decision and put you in bondage again. Any thought that is contrary to what you confess is from the devil, it not your thought even though the devil will want you to believe they are yours. Rebuke him again and again in Jesus Name. Never give place to him. “Take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor.10:5) and “Set your mind (i.e. redirect your mind) on things which are above” (Col. 3:2).

Please sir, how will I know if the devil is gaining ground in my life and the Holy Spirit is withdrawn?

As many that are led by the Spirit of God are Children of God. As long as you see the works of the flesh taken over your life, the enemy is gaining ground but when you repent of all known sins, eliminate all avenue the devil is using to draw you away from God, and kept doing your best to please God and bring forth fruits of the New Life in Jesus Christ, be sure the Holy Spirit is with you, even if the devil try to say otherwise. Giving place to the devil is the only thing that drive God’s Spirit away from us. As long as we submit to God and resist the devil, the Holy Spirit is in us. It is a divine principle. It is not about feeling, feeling is good, but can be deceptive as well. If we give no place to the devil, we are giving place to the Holy Spirit and vice versa.

When we repent and submit to God’s leadership again will demons automatically leave us?

Yes. As long as demons have no hiding place in us, they will leave. No demon can possess a man/woman as long as there is no ground to occupy in the person. But they will always come back from time to time, to check if new openings are coming up. That is why once we noticed any potential loophole in us again, we eliminate them as soon as we see them. This is where we need the help of the Holy Spirit, it is His work to call our attentions to potential openings the enemies can take advantage of in us. As long as we submit to Him, and stay close to Him through prayers, reading the Bible, fellowship with brethren of like faith, and more importantly by focusing attention on things above, God by His Spirit will keep on revealing to us potential or existing loopholes, and once He shows them to us, He expect us to act on them and eliminate them and submit that part of our lives to Him again. That is the path to lasting victory.

This is a continuous part of our Christian life, it must never stopped and it will not stop till we occupy our place in His Kingdom. Thanks ma.